Galacta
by Rhuen
Summary: Communication has been lost with a Kree outpost and the Annihilators have been sent to investigate. What they encounter is something and someone neither they nor the universe at large could have ever expected.


*Border of Kree / Shi'ar space

In the depths of black near empty space sitting upon a red crater specked moon around a none-descript desert planet an experimental base resides. Following the events of the Kree / Shi'ar war and the Rift to the Cancerverse a peace pact has been issued between the Kree Empire and the Shi'ar Empire. Amongst the many projects is the co-out-post set to scan the border regions between their empires for external threats to both.

However communication has been lost.

The current Magister of the Shi'ar Empire, the man known as Gladiator along with the Kree Emperor Ronan the Accuser; both are not only rulers and have equal cause to be alarmed by the loss of communication with the base, both are also members of the new galactic guardians team, the Annihilators.

"No alarm was raised." says Gladiator to the other two members Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer, along with Moon Dragon a member of now disbanded group The Guardians of the Galaxy, and ex-member of the Avengers a team of Earth Super-heroes.

An image of the base comes up on the screen, the team has been briefed on what has occurred.

"The base was scheduled for a regular check in, it did not." says Ronan, "When hailed they did not respond, the patrol we sent found nothing, no one was there."

Beta Ray Bill crosses his arms, "If you already sent a team then why did you call us? We have other matters we could be attending to."

"Indeed," says the Surfer, "my duties…"

"Are well known," says Gladiator raising his hand as Ronan just narrows his eyes.

"There is more to this story," says Moon Dragon, "please tell us why you called us specifically for this."

"Of course…Avenger," says Ronan with a twisted smile, "you're here because of your psychic powers, our patrol couldn't find anything but perhaps your impressive skills can."

He points at the Surfer, "same reason we wanted you for this, one of our patrol had a weak telepathic skill, but enough to say there was a strange energy, something akin to the power cosmic."

"I see," says the Surfer, "I will attend then, however I must be brief.

Moon Dragon narrows her eyes, "Your being deceptive…somewhat"

She pauses briefly, "There is more you're not telling us about this."

"Shrewd woman," says Ronan, "Yes, indeed, in the last few weeks…as you'd tell time terran, many vessels from both the Shi'ar and Kree have been found in this empty…sterilized condition just floating in space."

"and you intended not to tell us?" queries Beta Ray Bill.

"Its not that," says Gladiator, "This type of phenomenon has been known to occur from time to time. Usually its just blamed on pirates, mutiny, or some other mysterious cause. However it is occurring frequently, and given what has been gleamed, as well as our own duties we assembled you here to investigate per your skills and obligations as Annihilators."

"Which I'm not," says Moon Dragon with a smirk, "You both know why I'm here, just don't forget your part of the deal."

"So," says the Surfer, "the reality is she is the one you want, and we're just back up."

"Yes," says Ronan, "but I wasn't lying, we did pick up on some power cosmic at the base, as such if its some power cosmic endowed threat you'd be best suited to handle it."

Moon Dragon says with a smirk, "I sniff it out, they hunt it down."

"Yes." says Ronan with out a sense of pretense.

*The interior of the base.

"This place is clean…too clean." says Bill.

Moon Dragon is doing her thing, fingers to her temples.

"This isn't right," she says, "there was no fear, no anger, its…just un-natural. It's as though everyone went from their normal behavior, too content….and then…nothing…just gone."

She shakes her head.

"That's not all," says Bill sniffing the air, "There is nothing here…at all. Plant life, animal life, not even the smell of food."

"Well…that is a bit weird." says Moon Dragon.

Outside the Silver Surfer is hovering high above the base, his eyes narrowed and looking off into the distance. Bill and Moon Dragon meet him as he comes in through the airlock.

"Find anything?" asks Bill, "in here we have naught but confusion."

"Its not confusion," says Moon Dragon, "just weird, and its easily explainable. All it means is someone or something with a strong telepathic skill took over the minds of the crew."

"And took them…the plants from the pots…and stole food, but left all the Kree and Shi'ar equipment behind?"

"That's not all," says the Surfer, "all traces of life other than ourselves are gone from here, from the lowest of bacteria to the crew. Nothing biological

is here."

"So someone actually sterilized the outpost?"

"Crew and all," says Bill.

"Yes…but no…" says the Surfer looking out a window, "There is a trace of the power cosmic here."

"We know," says Bill.

"I can verify it as well," says Moon Dragon.

"You don't understand," says the Surfer, "its not just the power cosmic, this essence is like that of my master Galactus."

Bill says, "Galactus ate these people?"

Surfer shakes his head, "No, it's like Galactus…but different, I have never felt this before."

He opens the airlock, "and its returning, now that I have sensed it I can track it anywhere in the universe, and its coming back here."

He flies off into space, Beta Ray Bill is close to follow.

Moon Dragon is left on the base shaking her head and heading for their ship, "I do believe they forgot I can't fly in space."

The Silver Surfer unleashes a blast of cosmic energy out in the vacuum as Bill with a ship piloted by Moon Dragon behind him. Much to Bill and Moon Dragon's surprise something they can't see deflects the beam. From invisible to visible their unknown foe appears. A look of disbelief on Moon Dragon's face, one raised eye ridge on Bill's face. The Surfer's eyes shoot wide open, as does his mouth in utter shock and possibly horror at what they see before them. A young woman looking figure wearing armor resembling that of Galactus.

"So," says the woman in a voice that can be heard much like that of the Surfer's through empty space and even into Moon Dragon's ship, "my daddy's little pet is trying to bite me huh?"

"Daddy?" says the Surfer in anger, "I am the Silver Surfer herald of Galactus, who are you to make such outlandish claims!"

She giggles, "Me? Why I'm Galacta, the daughter of Galactus."

"Impossible." whispers Moon Dragon.

"NO!" screams the Silver Surfer with a rage thought impossible for this man as he unleashes what can only be seen as the full extent of his power in one massive beam, "Galactus is a force of nature! He is not a father! He is not a race of beings! I serve a will of the universe, something that must be, I do not serve a man like any other who could have a child!"

Beta Ray Bill looks on as the beam hits Galacta dead on, but does nothing to her. In fact the strange wing like devices on her back open up, the power of the Silver Surfer disperses as it hits her, a wisp of it entering her mouth, two others her out stretched hands like smoke being sucked into unseen mouths, and most the rest being channeled into the machine that has opened on her back.

Bill's words can not reach the Surfer as he sees bits of silver flake off the Surfer's body.

Bill flies back into the space ship.

"You must try and reach the Surfer, that…Galacta is feeding on him and he does not realize it."

"I've been trying," says Moon Dragon whose gesture clearly indicates she has been trying to use telepathy, "His mind…is full of rage, its as though

learning of this woman's existence was a great betrayal by his master."

She stops, "Oh no…"

Bill looks at her quizzically, "Oh no?"

She points out into space as the massive hand of Galactus himself appears between the Surfer and Galacta. The pulse of energy from The Silver Surfer to Galacta cut off by Galactus.

Galacta flies up to the height of Galactus face as Galactus grabs up the damaged surface restoring him in the process.

"How," says the still weak Surfer pointing at Galacta, "how…master, how is that possible."

"Annoying barking dog," says Galacta.

"Galactus!" yells the Surfer standing up straight on his board, "Explain yourself! How is it that one such as you can have a daughter?"

"I owe you no explanations." says Galactus, "you are my herald, you have a single duty, find worlds upon which Galactus can feed, all else is of no concern to you."

Beta Ray Bill flies up between the Surfer and Galacta, "Great Galactus, devourer of worlds, I ask you the same question, but not out of anger, but merely out curiosity."

Galactus ponders this for a brief moment as Galacta looks between them, and is amazed that her father the world eater speaks, "Korbinite, you who would have slain Great Galactus in a way no hero would have ever dreamed to do. Last of your race save for my own doing. You would wish to know of a secret, unknown even by most those who could claim and are greater than the godlings you portray yourself as?"

Galactus looks at Galacta who just shrugs and back at Beta Ray Bill.

"The so be it," says Galactus, "hear me all who are in the presence of the voice of great Galactus, mortal, herald, and would be godling, eons ago a spontaneous phenomenon unknown to Galactus for billions of years, and not for the millions since occurred, a new waveform constructed its self with-in my own semi-abstract multi-dimensional form, this became a nescient being like myself and emerged."

He indicates Galacta, "At first I believed a portion of my own great hunger or my previous mortal form had emerged as a new genesis of the Taa race. Those were not the case as evident by your own senses."

"So this whole time another like you has existed?" asks Beta Ray Bill.

"No," says Galactus, "In all the universe I stand alone."

"Yeah," says Galacta, "I'm not some giant cosmic semi-omnipotent stomach."

"The inhabitants here would beg to differ." says Bill

Galacta shrugs nonchalantly, "eh, it's not like its whole worlds you know. Just some bio-matter here and there is all. Besides if I do feed on a world I'd just strip off a good chunk of its bio-matter, nothing the world couldn't recover from in the long run, not like my planet killer dad."

Beta Ray Bill shakes his head thinking, "there is no point in discussing this with beings like this."

Galacta pats her stomach, "yeah you know man, if not for the bun in the cosmic oven I wouldn't even need to binge like this, yeah normally I just hang out on Earth and feed on aliens that threaten its biosphere."

Bill's eye twitches, but before he can say anything Galactus, Galacta, and the Silver Surfer all vanish.

Elsewhere in space, on Galactus' ship he tells the Silver Surfer, "My herald, I shall use Star Dust to locate my meals, you my Silver Surfer are to find a world for my daughter to feed on in peace, at this time the life essence of a ripe world should be all she needs to finish the formation of the nescient being with-in her."

Silver Surfer can not argue, this is something his master has commanded him. He simply says, "Yes master." and races off into the depths of space.

Back at the ship Beta Ray Bill walks into the cockpit with Moon Dragon and says to her, "Galacta, daughter of Galactus and soon she is to bare another of his ilk. Of all the things we could return and report this I imagine must be the furthest thing anyone could have expected or even imagined possible…and likely least liked."

"Yeah, I'd think that too." says Moon Dragon.

"Where there was once a lush primitive world teaming with plants and simple creatures there is now a dead world covered in deserts and bodies of water. The rain will still fall but there is now nothing left to drink it. All life has been stripped away, this world may never again know life, or it may take billions of more years for it to form again, no one can know for certain."

Galacta has spoken and she turns to the Silver Surfer, "You really are a monster aren't you?"

The Surfer only looks down at the planet.

"I was talking about you." Says Galacta as she looks at the planet.

"Tell me hound of my father why did you choose this world for me?"

"It had the life you needed." says the Surfer, "and yet had no sentient life, my apologies if you wanted sentient life."

Galacta smirks, "Why does it matter if the biomatter can comprehend that it's about to eaten? Sentient life makes up the minority of biomatter on any world, I normally only eat alien life to a biosphere or excess biomatter that has spilled out into space living on rocks and what have you."

The Silver Surfer looks at her but doesn't say a word.

"This world," says Galacta, "I actually feel sorry for it, it was young and beautiful. You chose it because of your own bias, because it didn't right now have any sentient life. But how many worlds like this are there? You don't know if sentient life might have evolved some day on it, perhaps that life could have become some utopian society making your Zenn'la look like barbarians by comparison. No, you chose it because it didn't now have sentient life."

She shrugs, "then again you might have done the future a favor, maybe this world would have evolved the worst tyrant cosmic devil the universe ever knew, like a new Thanos."

She twirls and levitates a little away and pats her abdomen, "well any way, I can feel it. Soon the bun in the cosmic oven is about to come out and I wont have to go on benders like this anymore."

She waves a dismissing hand at the Silver Surfer, "you can go back to my father now, I don't need one of his pets following me around anymore."

With that she vanishes leaving the Surfer to ponder her words, but more so her very existence.

He looks down at the planet, "Galacta, the great Galactus has a daughter that he bore himself. What cosmic joke is this, she devours sentient life seeing no difference between it and simple organisms, thinking of it as overspill from their respective worlds and claiming to protect a biosphere from aliens, yet still she is a killer, yet calls me the monster for leading her to a world with only simple organisms. Her words and actions are contradictory, yet who am I to judge, I who lead Galactus to worlds which he decimates; it is perhaps this inconsistency in my own life that leads me to question the role of one such as this Galacta on the cosmic scale. What role, is it the cosmic consonance that another must exist to filter out the amount of life that permeates out into the universe."

He shakes his head and flies off, "Who am I to question these things, I am herald of Galactus, nothing more."


End file.
